Why do you think more farmers don’t measure grass?

Farmers do want to measure grass and they understand its benefits but the process is poorly understood. Historically, it has been a cumbersome, manual, time-consuming process. The key is to make it easy with as little manual input as possible and have, above all else, an economic benefit to the work involved. Farmers measuring grass are increasing their utilisation from an average 8t/ha to a typical 12t/ha.

What is the Grasshopper sensor?

The Grasshopper is a grass measurement system containing measurement sensors, a GPS engine, bluetooth communications and a central microprocessor based control system to interpret inputs from the farmer and regulate the flow of data to a mobile device. In Grasshopper’s case, this is grass measurement data, location of all measurements in the field, time, date, temperature and more. This data then flows up to an online database where it can be used by the farmer to make decisions.

How did you develop this grass-measurement technology?

I come from an engineering background where I had done a lot of work with high-end GPS and mapping systems. I was able to visualise a system to measure grass, which translated into a proof of concept product which simplified grass measuring for the user. The unknown was how accurate the measurements would be.

Independent and objective analysis was carried out on the Grasshopper data over three growing seasons by Diarmuid McSweeney as part of his PhD from Teagasc Moorepark. His work ultimately led to the commercialisation of Grasshopper in 2015/2016.

Is GPS useful for measuring grass?

GPS is a big enabler for farmers in building a picture of their land over time. Using the farm mapping tool along with the Grasshopper, the farmer can build a history of grass growth in each paddock and see how each one is performing. It’s like creating a heat map of grass growth.

Do new customers take convincing of the technology?

We expected scepticism at the outset so we aimed to win customers over through on-farm demos. Once a farmer sees how the product works and how easy it is to use, most farm demos will turn into a sale. We convert 98% of farm visits to sales.

Outside of Ireland, in what markets do you see the most potential?

The market with the most potential is by far New Zealand. New Zealand farmers are the master grass measurers, having developed the plate meter. About 95% of farmers in New Zealand measure grass, often more than once a week. In Europe, Brittany in northern France would be the biggest opportunity as it is almost the same size as Ireland in terms of area and the number of farmers. There are already grass-based systems there and farmers are already measuring grass.

Title: Managing director.

Company: True North Technologies.

Products: Grasshopper, grassland tools, farm mapping and animal research collar.

Markets: Ireland, UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Luxemburg and Denmark.